Teen LGBTQIA+ Books - Flossmoor Public Library

Teen LGBTQIA+ Books
The Art of Starving                                       Find It: Y MILL
Miller, Sam

Matt's stomach stabs and twists, pleading for a meal, but Matt won't give in. The hunger clears his mind,
keeps him sharp-- and the less he eats the more he seems to have the ability to see things he shouldn't
be able to see. Maybe even the authority to bend time and space. Matt needs to be as sharp as possible
if he's going to find out just how Tariq and his band of high school bullies drove his sister, Maya, away.
But Matt doesn't realize there are many kinds of hunger-- and he isn't in control of all of them.

Birthday                                                  Find It: Y RUS
Russo, Meredith

Two kids, Morgan and Eric, are bonded for life after being born on the same day at the same time. We
meet them once a year on their shared birthday as they grow and change: as Eric figures out who he is
and how he fits into the world, and as Morgan makes the difficult choice to live as her true self. Over the
years, they will drift apart, come together, fight, make up, and break up—and ultimately, realize how
inextricably they are a part of each other.

Gender Queer                                              Find It: Y BIO KOBABE
Kobabe, Maia

Maia's graphic memoir charts eir journey of self-identity, which includes the mortification and confusion of
adolescent crushes, grappling with how to come out to family and society, bonding with friends over erotic
gay fanfiction, and facing the trauma and fundamental violation of pap smears. Started as a way to
explain to eir family what it means to be nonbinary and asexual, Gender Queer is more than a personal
story: it is a useful and touching guide on gender identity - what it means and how to think about it - for
advocates, friends, and humans everywhere.

Girl Crushed                                              Find It: Y HEA
Heaney, Katie

Before Quinn Ryan was in love with Jamie Rudawski, she loved Jamie Rudawski, who was her best
friend. However, when Jamie dumps Quinn a month before their senior year, Quinn is suddenly girlfriend-
less and best friend-less. Enter a new crush: Ruby Ocampo, the gorgeous and rich lead singer of the
popular band Sweets, who has just broken up with her on-again, off-again boyfriend. Quinn has always
only wanted to be with Jamie, but if Jamie no longer wants to be with her, why can't Quinn go all in on
Ruby? But the closer Quinn grows to Ruby, the more she misses Jamie, and the more (she thinks) Jamie
misses her. Who says your first love can't be your second love, too?

How To Be Remy Cameron                                    Find It: Y WIN, DLIL e-book
Winters, Julian

Everyone on campus knows Remy Cameron: he's the out-and-proud, super-likable guy who friends,
faculty, and fellow students alike admire for his cheerful confidence. Under pressure to write an A+ essay
defining who he is and who he wants to be, Remy embarks on an emotional journey toward reconciling
the outward labels people attach to him with the real Remy Cameron within.

I Wish You All the Best                                   Find It: Y DEA, DLIL e-book, e-audiobook
Deaver, Mason

When Ben De Backer comes out to their parents as nonbinary, they are thrown out of their house and
forced to move in with their estranged older sister, Hannah, and her husband, Thomas, whom Ben has
never even met. Struggling with an anxiety disorder compounded by their parents' rejection, they come
out only to Hannah, Thomas, and their therapist and try to keep a low profile in a new school.
But Ben's attempts to survive the last half of senior year unnoticed are thwarted when Nathan Allan, a
funny and charismatic student, decides to take Ben under his wing.

Kings, Queens and In-Betweens                             Find It: Y BOT
Boteju, Tanya

Perpetually awkward Nima Kumara-Clark is bored with her insular community of Bridgeton, in love with
her straight girlfriend, and trying to move past her mother's unexpected departure. After a bewildering
encounter at a local festival, Nima finds herself suddenly immersed in the drag scene on the other side of
town. Macho drag kings, magical queens, new love interests, and surprising allies propel Nima both
painfully and hilariously closer to a self she never knew she could be--one that can confidently express
and accept love. But she'll have to learn to accept lost love to get there.

Let’s Talk About Love                                     Find It: Y KAN, DLIL e-book
Kann, Claire

Alice's last girlfriend, Margo, ended things when Alice confessed she's asexual. Now Alice is sure she's
done with dating... and then she meets Takumi. She can't stop thinking about him or the rom-com-grade
romance feelings she did not ask for. When her blissful summer takes an unexpected turn and Takumi
becomes her knight with a shiny library-employee badge, Alice has to decide if she's willing to risk their
friendship, for a love that might not be reciprocated—or understood.

The Love and Lies of Rukhsana Ali                         Find It: Y KHA, DLIL e-book
Khan, Sabina

Seventeen-year-old Rukhsana Ali is looking forward to college and getting away from her conservative
Muslim parents' expectation that she will marry, especially since she is in love with her girlfriend Ariana.
When her parents catch her kissing Ariana, they whisk Rukhsana off to Bangladesh and a world of
tradition and arranged marriages. She must find the courage to fight for the right to choose her own path.

The Music of What Happens                                 Find It: Y KON, DLIL e-book
Konigsburg, Bill

It’s summer in Phoenix, and seventeen-year-old Maximo offers to help his classmate Jordan with the food
truck that belonged to Jordan's deceased father, and which may be the only thing standing between
homelessness for Jordan and his mom. The boys are strongly attracted to each other, their developing
romance is threatened by their secrets --and by the racism and homophobia of those around them.

Odd One Out                                                 Find It: Y STO, DLIL e-book, e-audiobook
Stone, Nic

Courtney Cooper and Jupiter Sanchez (Coop & Jupe!) have been next-door neighbors and best friends
since they were seven. She's his partner in crime and other half. But lately, Cooper thinks he might want
something more than friendship from Jupiter. When Rae Chin moves to town, she can't believe how lucky
she is to find Coop and Jupe. Being the new kid is usually synonymous with pariah b around these two,
she finally feels like she belongs. She's so grateful she wants to kiss him...and her. Jupiter has always
liked girls. But when Rae starts dating Cooper, Jupe realizes she was the only girl she ever imagined by
his side. One story. Three sides. No easy answers.

The Past And Other Things That Should Stay Buried
Hutchinson, David                            Find It: Y HUT

A good friend will bury your body; a best friend will dig you back up. Dino doesn't mind spending time with
the dead. His parents own a funeral home, and death is literally the family business. He's just not used to
them talking back. Until Dino's ex-best friend, July dies suddenly--and then comes back to life. Except not
exactly. Somehow, July is not quite alive, and not quite dead. As Dino and July attempt to figure out
what's happening, they must also confront why and how their friendship ended so badly, and what they
have left to understand about themselves, each other, and all those grand mysteries of life.

Pet                                                         Find It: Y EME
Emezi, Akweake

There are no monsters anymore. In the city of Lucille, Jam and her best friend, Redemption, have grown
up with this lesson all their life. Then Jam meets Pet, a creature made of horns, colors, and claws, who
emerges from one of her mother's paintings and a drop of Jam's blood. Pet has come to hunt a monster--
and the shadow of something grim lurks in Redemption's house. How do you save the world from
monsters if no one will admit they exist?

Picture Us In The Light                                     Find It: Y GIL, DLIL e-book
Gilbert, Kelly

Danny Cheng has always known his parents have secrets. But when he discovers a taped-up box in his
father's closet filled with old letters and a file on a powerful Silicon Valley family, he realizes there's much
more to his family's past than he ever imagined. On top of that, he is grappling with his plans for the future
and his complicated feelings for his best friend, Harry Wong.

Pride: The Celebration and the Struggle                     Find It: Y 306.76 STE
Stevenson, Robin

This revised, updated and expanded edition of the award-winning book Pride: Celebrating Diversity &
Community (2016) celebrates the LGBTQ+ community's diversity, the incredible victories of the past fifty
years and the voices of young activists.

Pulp                                                      Find It: Y TALL, DLIL e-book
Talley, Robin

In 1955, eighteen-year-old Janet Jones keeps the love she shares with her best friend Marie a secret. It’s
not easy being gay in Washington, DC, in the age of McCarthyism, but when she discovers a series of
books about women falling in love with other women, it awakens something in Janet. As she juggles a
romance she must keep hidden and a newfound ambition to write and publish her own story, she risks
exposing herself--and Marie--to a danger all too real. Sixty-two years later, Abby Zimet can’t stop thinking
about her senior project and its subject: classic 1950s lesbian pulp fiction. Between the pages of her
favorite book, the stresses of Abby's own life are lost to the fictional hopes, desires and tragedies of the
characters she's reading about. She feels especially connected to one author, a woman who wrote under
the pseudonym "Marian Love," and becomes determined to track her down and discover her true identity.
The story of two young women connected across generations through the power of words.

A Queer History of the United States for Young People
Bronski, Micheal                              Find It: Y 306.766 BRO, DLIL e-book

Through engrossing narratives, letters, drawings, poems, and more, this book encourages young readers,
of all identities, to feel pride at the accomplishments of the LGBTQ people who came before them and to
use history as a guide to the future. The stories inside include those of: Thomas Morton, who celebrated
same-sex love in Boston's Puritan community in the 1620s; Albert D.J. Cashier, an Irish immigrant and
Civil War hero, who was born in the body of a woman but lived as a man for over a half century; Gladys
Bentley, an African American blues singer who challenged cross-dressing laws in 1920s Harlem and
many more.

A Quick and Easy Guide to They/Them Pronouns
Bongiovanni, Archie                       Find It: Y GN QUI

Archie, a snarky genderqueer artist, is tired of people not understanding gender-neutral pronouns.
Tristan, a cisgender dude, is looking for an easy way to introduce gender-neutral pronouns to his
increasingly diverse workplace. The longtime best friends team up in this short and fun comic guide that
explains what pronouns are, why they matter, and how to use them. They also include what to do if you
make a mistake and some tips-and-tricks for those who identify outside of the binary to keep themselves
safe in this binary-centric world.

Seeing Gender: An Illustrated Guide to Identity and Expression
Gottlieb, Iris                                   Find It: Y 305.3 GOT

Seeing Gender is an of-the-moment investigation into how we express and understand the complexities
of gender today. Deeply researched and fully illustrated, this book demystifies an intensely personal-yet
universal-facet of humanity. Illustrating a different concept on each spread, queer author and artist Iris
Gottlieb touches on history, science, sociology, and her own experience. This book is an essential tool for
understanding and contributing to a necessary cultural conversation, bringing clarity and reassurance to
the sometimes confusing process of navigating ones' identity.

Summer Bird Blue                                           Find It: Y BOW
Bowman, Akemi

Rumi, a young musician plagued with grief and survivor’s guilt after her younger sister is killed in a car
crash. Her mother sends her to live with her aunt in Hawaii, and is also now mourning the loss of the
music she would create with her sister and is unable to recapture her passion. As she navigates her loss
and feelings of abandonment from her mother, Rumi is also starting new relationships with neighbors,
one a cute, easygoing surfer boy, and the other an irascible 80-year-old crankypants, while also
becoming comfortable with her aromantic and asexual feelings.

Tash Hearts Tolstoy                                        Find It: Y ORM
Ormsbee, Kathryn

Natasha Zelenka (Tash) is a serious fangirl of Leo Tolstoy and a rising YouTube star with her web
series Unhappy Families, a modern-day adaptation of Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina, and Vlog, Tea with Tash.
When a famous vlogger gives a shout out to the series, it goes viral. Now she, along with the cast and
crew, are finding what it means to be a hit sensation and are managing the adoration, and the trolls,
coming their way. Tash, a romantic asexual, has had a long time crush on the hit vlogger star Thom, who,
as her online popular grows so does Thom’s attention. Amidst the fame and romance, Tash is also
dealing with her older sister creating distance, her parents announcing a new sibling on the way, college
applications, the impending end of the series, and the big “What’s next.”

Tell Me How You Really Feel                                Find It: Y SAF, DLIL e-book
Safi, Aminah

Rachel was furious that Sana tried to prank her by asking her on a date. But when it comes time for
Rachel to cast her senior project, she realizes that there's no more perfect lead than Sana -- the girl she's
sneered at in the halls for the past three years. And poor Sana -- she says yes. She never did really get
over that first crush, even if Rachel can barely stand to be in the same room as her. Told in alternative
viewpoints and set against the backdrop of Los Angeles in the springtime, when the rainy season rolls in
and the Santa Ana's can still blow -- these two girls are about to learn that in the city of dreams, anything
is possible -- even love

This Is Kind of An Epic Love Story                         Find It: Y CALL, DLIL e-book
Callender, Kacen

Film buff and aspiring screenwriter Nathan Bird doesn't believe in happy endings since his father died and
his mom began to unravel. His best-friend-turned-girlfriend-turned-best-friend-again, Florence, is set on
making sure Nate finds someone else. And that someone does come along: Oliver James Hernández, his
childhood best friend. But can Nate find the courage to pursue his own happily ever after?

What If It’s Us                                            Find It: Y ALB; DLIL e-book, e-audiobook
Albertalli, Becky & Adam Silvera

Told in two voices, when Arthur, a summer intern from Georgia, and Ben, a native New Yorker, meet it
seems like fate, but after three attempts at dating fail they wonder if the universe is pushing them together
or apart.

Ziggy, Stardust and Me                                     Find It: Y BRA
Brandon, James

The year is 1973. The Watergate hearings are in full swing. The Vietnam War is still raging. And
homosexuality is still officially considered a mental illness. In the midst of these trying times is sixteen-
year-old Jonathan Collins, a bullied, anxious, asthmatic kid, who aside from an alcoholic father and his
sympathetic neighbor and friend Starla, is completely alone. When he completes his treatments, he will
be normal—at least he hopes. But before that can happen, Web stumbles into his life. Web is everything
Jonathan wishes he could be: fearless, fearsome and, most importantly, not ashamed of being gay.